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  • Posts

    • It might be useful to try out the cross-compiler just to help troubleshoot the problem.   Good luck! I don't know much about GEMDOS, but I'm cheering for this project as a spectator   Quick question---I suspect the answer is no, but does GEMDOS use the Lisa's MMU in any way? I'm guessing not (it probably just uses the flat memory space set up by the boot ROM), but if it does use the MMU, then it's possible that any old 68k compiler won't work. The 68000 can only recover from a page fault for certain instructions, so subroutine calls have to generate code that uses these instructions to "test" distant memory locations (and thereby trigger a page fault) before doing any actual work with them.
    • I stumbled across a copy of AOL 2.7. By any chance is that close enough?
    • Quite a step up from stock .  Sonnet made some insane upgrades for those machines, including the Sonnet Duet dual 1.8GHz.  :o
    • I have 3 great condition PB 2400’s and really don’t want to pull the PRAM’s out on them. The take apart is just a real pain. And to do three is just eyeboggling. I don’t think any have leaked yet but they have to come out. I agree with said earlier I NEVER replace any PRAM batteries. This was primarily for during the time they were used daily way back when. ALL batteries are removed from my machines out or in storage! It should be common practice amongst us collectors. I’m just dredging taking them out of these three.. I absolutely hate the take apart. But my laziness to leave them in will pinch me later on down the road... 
    • Next, it was time to clean and lubricate the floppy drive. Before this, it worked fine, but the eject motor seemed to really struggle.     I got the drive out of the bracket, and found that it was dusty, but pretty clean compared to many of the drives I've seen.     The first step is to remove the plastic bracket that lifts the upper read/write head out of the way when the disk is ejected. To remove it, you gently lift the small tab in the center and slide it towards to back of the drive.     Next, I use tweezers to release the two springs on the sides. There's one on the right, and one on the left, and they are released from the bottom of the drive.     Next, we need to release the upper part of the drive so we can lift it away. It's a bit hard to show in the photos, but you can see where my fingers are sitting on two mechanism that pivot/slide back and forth. Basically, you just slide them away from the each, which will disengage parts of the drive causing it to separate. You'll know when you've done it right, the drive snaps down very suddenly. It's not scary or anything, you'll just know when it worked.     Once the top has snapped down, you can lift the top out from the left side. You might have the slide the lower tray forward and backwards a bit to clear everything, but you can work it out pretty easily.     With the upper tray removed, it's time to remove the eject motor and gears. I use my impact driver on these to make sure I don't round out the Phillips heads, which I have done. And it sucked.     To remove the lower tray, there are four little snap rings to remove. I use a pair of needle nose pliers to pop them off.     And with that, the drive is disassembled and ready for cleaning! Let's tackle the eject gearbox first. Releasing the cover is pretty easy, just press a small screwdriver into the clip towards the back. Be gentle here... I haven't broken one of these yet but I would not be surprised if this plastic was super brittle.     I didn't get a picture, but the gears looked great. I added a couple of drops of DuPont Silicon Teflon lubricant.   Next, I cleaned up the upper and lower carriage mechanisms on the drive. I just scrubbed them down with a toothbrush and Dawn dishwasher detergent, and then blew the moisture out with the air compressor.     The drive itself got hit with the air compressor, and then I used cotton swabs and alcohol to clean up any remaining grease.     Next, I used the little tube of lubricant that came with my Prusa i3 MK3S printer to lubricate the sliding parts. It's a bit thinner than lithium grease.     After lubricating, I installed the bottom carriage, and snapped the rings back in by just pressing them on with my thumb. Then I set the upper carriage back in place, used tweezers to reconnect the springs, and actuated the things to pop it back into place. As I write this, I realize how difficult the process is to describe, but once you get it, it is very simple.     Finally, I reinstalled the small plastic clip that lifts the upper read/write head, and tested a disk! This is a dead disk that I use as a coaster on my desk.     The disk seemed to eject a little half-heartedly. Whoops, forgot to lubricate some of the parts on the top carriage. No problem, not too late.     Disks fly out of the drive now! To finish up, I reinstalled it in the hard drive caddy.